The table below illustrates the difference between S and H' for samples of 100 individuals from four imaginary communities:
| Number of Individuals of Each Species in the Sample | ||||
| Community 1 | Community 2 | Community 3 | Community 4 | |
|
species a species b species c species d species e species f species g species h species i species j species k species l species m species n species o species p species q species r species s species t |
96 1 1 1 1 |
20 20 20 20 20 |
81 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 |
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 |
| S | 5 | 5 | 20 | 20 |
| H' | 0.22 | 1.60 | 1.05 | 2.99 |
The information index H' does parallel your intuitive expectations even with these highly unlikely imaginary communities.
With their greater numbers of species, community 3 has a greater diversity (larger H' value) than community 1 and community 4 has a greater diversity than community 2.
With their more even distribution of species, community 2 has a greater diversity than community 1 and community 4 has a greater diversity than community 3.